In Italian there exist many irregular verbs. Most of them belong to the 2nd conjugation (verbs in -ere).

Irregular verbs have different endings than the ones found in the fixed inflectional paradigm. For example, some do not make use of the same stem throughout one tense. Some add a vowel (also, a consonant) between the stem and the ending, in unpredictable ways. Some have minor spelling changes, in different tenses.

 

Let’s have a look at the present indicative of two common irregular verbs, andare / to go and venire / to come. Both are intransitive verbs and in the compound tenses make use of the auxiliary verb essere / to be.

 

—> Andare is a verb of the 1st conjugation (ending in -are). It translates as to go and generally describes movement towards a place or a person which are distant from the speaker.

 

Present Indicative:

 

- Io vado. (I go.)

- Tu vai. (You go.)

- Egli/Ella / Esso/Essa va. (He / she / it goes.)

- Noi andiamo. (We go.)

- Voi andate. (You go.)

- Essi/esse vanno. (They go.)

 

As you can see the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular and the 3rd person plural have a different stem.

 

—> Venire is a verb of the 3rd conjugation (ending in -ire). It translates as to come and generally describes movement towards a place or a person close to the speaker.

 

Present Indicative:

 

- Io vengo. (I come.)

- Tu vieni. (You come.)

- Egli/Ella / Esso/Essa viene. (He / she / it comes.)

- Noi veniamo. (We come.)

- Voi venite. (You come.)

- Essi/esse vengono. (They come.)

 

As you can see a g gets inserted in the 1st person singular and the 3rd person plural conjugation, while an i gets inserted in the 2nd and 3rd person singular:

- Vengo spesso a Milano per lavoro. (I often come to Milan for business.)

- Non vado mai a Milano per lavoro. (I never go to Milan for business.)

- Andate al mare in agosto? (Do you go to the sea in August?)

- I miei nipoti non vengono mai a trovarmi. (My nieces and nephews never visit me.)